At the Seaside

Collin was an Academic painter active in France from the end of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th century. He taught Kuroda Seiki and other Japanese painters who were bringing a new style to the realm of Western-style painting in Japan. Collin was also known for his close association with the Japanese art dealer active in Paris, Hayashi Tadamasa, yet another aspect of his deep connections with Japan. This work was entered in the 1892 Salon. The expression of gently depicted light and soft nude female forms seen here is characteristic of Collin's painting style. The depiction of the slender, lithe nudes was seen by the Salon judges of the day as the actual forms of women, whether mythological gods or the forms of women slimmed by their tight corsets. This delicate rendering of an exterior light and the interwoven sense of a classical and contemporary mood ably convey the artistic realm sought by Collin.